Age of Love, Finale: You Know We Belong Together, You And I Forever And Ever

This is it, everybody! The moment we have all waited for. Mark Philipoussis began his search for true love eight weeks ago, looking for true love. His choices? Seven lovely ladies who happened to be in their forties, and six saucy twenty-somethings.

Along the way, Mark had a lot of fun on several dates. Some were fun outings with groups of ladies. Other dates had Mark in an intimate setting with one of the other women. Hearts were broken along the way, and with each passing week, Mark's choices became harder and harder.

With the elimination of Maria and Megan last week, we are down to the final two women. We have Amanda, a 25-year-old hockey team dancer, who has claimed to have feelings for Mark since the very beginning. On the flip side, we have Jen, the 48-year-old L.A. Lakers assistant, who started off slowly, but quickly attracted Mark's attention. Amanda might have been the first of the women to snag a kiss from Mark, but arguably, Jen has had some of the most interesting and intimate dates so far.

With Mark's decision just moments away, we're all wondering who Mark will choose. Will he choose Jen? Or, will Amanda tickle his fancy? Most importantly, we'll all find out if age really matters when finding love. Are you as excited as I am, folks? Let's continue.

The episode begins in Melbourne, Australia. In addition to being the birthplace of Kylie Minogue (who happens to be my celebrity cougar crush, by the way), it's also the home of Mark Philipoussis. Mark has brought Jen and Amanda to Melbourne to meet his family, as well as to have one final date with him. Within three days, Mark will decide who he wants to be with.

When we first see Mark, something seems odd. We initially see Mark standing at a harbor, wearing a fancy suit. There's white curtains flapping in the breeze, and they're attached to some sort of runway. What's going on? Are we seeing the decision now?

We hear Mark speaking in the background as we, the television viewers, gaze upon this beautiful, yet strange scene. He talks about how he has developed feelings for both Jen and Amanda, but knows that he'll have to send one of them home. He doesn't want to hurt anyone, but he feels that he's made the right decision and that he's excited about sharing it. That's great, but I'm sure we'd like to know how he got to that point!

The camera pans to the runway, and we initially see Jen. Jen looks absolutely gorgeous with her reddish-blond hair and her coral pink dress. I tell you, she does not look 48. I also tell you that she's the one that I hope gets the most out of this experience. If that means she ends up with Mark at the end of this crazy journey, then all the better for her.

We see Jen continue to walk, as she passes one of the white curtains. As she does, she disappears and Amanda, who is decked in basic black, continues the walk. What? What has Amanda done with Jen? Oh, never mind. It's just magic... the magic of editing to build suspense. Oh, what an incredibly original idea. I wonder who came up with that one?

Amanda quickly disappears behind one of the white curtains and Jen reappears. Jen seems stunned that this is actually the end. She knows that she's fallen in love with Mark and there's no turning back for her. We then cut to Amanda, who says that Mark finally has to decide between the two of them. She begins to show a few tears as she admits that maybe it might not be her that he picks. She definitely wants Mark... very badly.

From here, we see a bunch of crazy editing, and quick shot successions between Jen and Amanda. Then, we see Mark announce to one of them that he is sorry, but it will not work out between them. Both Jen and Amanda have massive frowns on their faces. Then, the screen fades to black.

The End. Cue the happy, smiley people.

Or, at least, I would have said this had I not seen the white text that said "3 days earlier..." on the screen. Those crazy editors.

Alas, the show has not ended, as we see the plane that I assume is carrying our final two ladies flying over an ocean. We also see the special quotation that appears at the beginning of each show (and the beginning of each recap I write), before we rejoin Mark and his incredibly difficult decision.

We're treated to a beautiful scenic view of Melbourne, Australia, and I can understand why Mark wanted to take them there. Obviously, he wants them to meet the Philipoussis clan, but looking at the city, it is absolutely incredible. I've always said to myself that I wanted to vacation in Australia someday, and seeing this scenery, I definitely want to go as soon as possible. If there are any Australians reading this right now, I really think you have a beautiful country.

Okay, enough praise for Australia. Let's get back to the romance.

As a black car drives down one of Melbourne's bustling city streets, Jen explains in a voiceover that they're in Australia and that there's no turning back now. Well, unless you get back on Qantas Airlines and fly back to the States. But, I think Jen's come too far to quit now, don't you?

Amanda can't get over how pretty Melbourne looks, and she and Jen admire the scenery. Proving that Amanda has smuggled a thesaurus in with her belongings, she talks about how ecstatic, thrilled, and happy she is to be there. She can't wait for it to start right now. Whatever "it" is, I'm not too sure. All we know is that "it" is exciting.

Amanda tells Jen that she's anxious to meet Mark's family and friends and everyone who is important to him. You can tell that Amanda's really excited about this. Jen just nods her head. You can tell that Jen's calm and cool about it all. Or, maybe she's confident. Just don't move into cocky territory, Jen. You saw what happened to your pal Jayanna, didn't you?

Meanwhile, Mark is waiting for Jen and Amanda to arrive. He reminisces about both of the women as well as his journey. He tells the camera that he started off with thirteen women, and now he's down to two. He has to make a decision, but knows that someone will get hurt. He doesn't like the idea of hurting one of the women. In actuality, he's hurt eleven. Eleven is a different number than one! All right, maybe ten. We all know what became of Maria, right?

The car that is carrying Jen and Amanda begins to slow down once it sees Mark. In a voiceover, Mark is nervous, but happy at the same time. He really wanted to bring Jen and Amanda to Australia. In the car, Jen's just excited to see Mark. Jen admits that Mark looks handsome, while Amanda appears to be smitten at the very sight of him.

It's now time for the flashback moment of the show, where Mark begins to reflect on his final two choices set to clips from the last seven episodes. Amanda is the first one Mark talks about. He says that Amanda was the first girl he gave a kiss to. To further prove this, we see the clip of Mark and Amanda kissing before the limo takes Amanda home. We also see clips of Amanda and Mark on a boat, as well as their salsa dancing date. Mark feels that Amanda lives in the moment, and she's passionate and genuine. Why they feel the need to show the clip of Amanda listening in on the conversation between Mark and Adelaide with a fruit bowl during this admission escapes me. The flashback scenes end with Amanda and Mark's movie date and camping trip excursion.

With Jen, her flashback immediately begins with their first meeting, and Jen asking Mark how old he thinks she is. If you recall from Episode 1, Mark was quite shocked when Jen revealled to him that she was 48. As of right now, Mark explains to the camera that Jen changed his perception of older women. Before, Mark says he would have laughed off the idea of being set up on a blind date with a 48-year old, but Jen made him see things differently. We then see clips of Jen telling Mark about her 25-year-old son, their date at the roller disco, and that magical carriage ride through the streets of L.A.

Proving the absolute redundancy of this segment, Mark states several times that this decision he has to make is the most difficult yet. Okay, Mark. We get it.